Networking systems distribute tasks and services over a variety of communication devices, such as computer systems or servers. Many companies own and manage servers to provide employees and/or consumers with a variety of services including electronic mail (e-mail), file-sharing, printer access, web pages, media streaming, and the like. Indeed, servers may be utilized for multiple purposes and include, but are not limited to, domain controllers, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) servers, domain name service (DNS) servers, application servers, file servers, internet information servers (IIS), mail servers, print servers, remote access servers (RAS), structured query language (SQL) servers, terminal or telnet servers, “WINDOWS® INTERNET NAMING SERVICE” (WINS) servers, audio/video or media servers, chat servers, internet relay chat (IRC) servers, fax servers, file transfer protocol (FTP) servers, groupware servers, list servers, news servers, proxy servers, portal servers, and web servers. Servers, such as those specified above, must constantly be monitored and maintained to prevent disruptions in provided services.
The monitoring of servers and other systems typically necessitates the use of software that entails manual customization, which can be both expensive and time consuming to implement and maintain. Implementing software for monitoring servers and services within a distributed network requires a user to manually provide specific information about each server or service within a domain of the network. Manually providing information to the monitoring software may be time-intensive and require a technologically knowledgeable user. Companies often have information technology (IT) personnel dedicated to managing and maintaining large-scale server deployments. Unfortunately, smaller businesses may lack the financial means to implement a full-scale management solution to adequately monitor servers and services.
Alternatively, the monitoring software may acquire specific information from a network directory, such as active directory, which contains specific information such as the device object type, the operating system associated with a device, the domain associated with a device, and the like. The specific information provided by the network directory, however, may be incomplete or represent data entered manually by a user. For example, a server may be generically labeled within the network directory as a computer, without indicating the server type. Without knowing the function of a server, the monitoring software may not adequately detect whether the server is working properly and may lead to more serious problems, such as network failure.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and methods for monitoring servers and services at a low cost to the user. There is also a need in the art for a system and methods for monitoring servers and services that require little technological knowledge about server configuration within a network or domain.
Additionally, there is a need in the art for a system and methods for discovering servers within a network or domain.
Further, there is a need in the art for a system and methods for identifying the roles of the servers within a network or domain.